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The Actual Nutritional Value of Foods
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For most people when it comes to food, thinking about their daily calorie intake is an essential part of their daily concern ~ They don’t want to get fat!
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So they buy into the idea that low-fat, low-calorie and low-sugar foods help them keep their weight in check, not actually knowing that these ‘low’ foods really play havoc with their health and wellness.
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However, the majority of food companies have come to recognise this great demand for low-fat, low-calorie and low-sugar foods.
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So they have created and marketed their products (low-fat, ‘no added sugar’, low-calorie) in a way for the consumer to believe that these ‘low’ foods are healthy for them. But are they actually as healthy as we’re led to believe?
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In reality, and contrary to this nonsensical idea of ‘low’ everything, a high-fat diet can make you fit and healthy. This is based on science. The low-fat, low-calorie and low-everything foods is based on a creative figment of imagination on the part of marketers and food manufacturers to satisfy the demand of end-consumers.
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In the UK, there are specific packaging laws which means certain products are required to have their nutritional value labelled on the side of them.
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However, in the US, foods labels must legally include the statement of identity, the product’s net weight, the manufacturer’s address, nutrition facts, and ingredients list.
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In this article, we’ll take a look at 4 specific foods that many people think are good/bad for our bodies – that might not actually be the case!
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1. Avocados
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One of the fattiest fruits out there, ~ yes that’s right ~ not only is the avocado a fruit due its large seed (stone) encased in the middle of it, contains a whopping amount of fat!
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It’s important to remember that the 15g (per 100g) of fat in avocados are pretty good for your health.
When people talk about fats in foods, there are two types: unsaturated fats, and saturated fats. Unsaturated fats – fats that are abundant in fatty acid molecules with at least one double bond. That can be found in foodstuffs like avocados, nuts, seeds and fish. These are generally considered to be more healthy for you than saturated fats.
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Saturated fats – fat containing a high proportion of fatty acid molecules without double bonds – are most commonly found in red meats, animal meats and dairy, like cheeses.
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These type of fats have been demonized by the food industry and medical fraternity, and are mistakenly considered to be less healthy for you than unsaturated fats.
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It is a scientific fact that saturated fats are the main building blocks of all our hormones, including testosterone, progesterone, estrogen…and more. Saturated fats are essential for health and wellness.
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And you should eat them, NOT avoid them like the plague.
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All fats have the same calorie content. The only fruit to contain more fat is the coconut, with a whopping 33g per 100g – 30g of which are saturated.
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To know more about which fats you should eat and which to avoid, grab your free copy of Fats Which Heal, Fats Which Kill here.
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2. Yogurt
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Every company that sells low-fat yogurt, will certainly let you know about the low-fat element in the packaging of their products.
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When the yogurt label reads ‘low-fat’, that means it has less fat and saturated fat, roughly about half as much compared to full-fat yogurts.
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In addition, low-fat yogurts have slightly fewer calories than their full fat alternatives. But, oh the big but! There’s approximately, 0.5g-1.5g more sugar in low-fat yogurt compared to its full fat sibling.
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That’s because when you take a significant amount of fat out of a product, it affects the overall taste of the product. As a result, food manufacturers, replace some of that fat with sugar to improve the taste of the reduced fat product.
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It’s important to say that low-fat or fat-free yogurts aren’t necessarily good for you. Additionally, eating too many low-fat alternatives may actually cause you to gain weight. And make you actually more unhealthy.
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It is likely that you suffer from overweight runaway eating habits if you need to resort to low-fat and low-calorie foods to lose weight. Get a rein on this, and move to a real food diet. And learn how to get rid of resistant fat.
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3. Olives
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Another of our fake vegetable friends here, olives are in fact a fruit. Similar to the avocado, the stone in the middle means it’s classified as a fruit.
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Olives draw more similarities to the avocado again, in being high in monounsaturated fat (7.8g, per 100g) and being incredibly calorific for a fruit (115 calories per 100g).
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Although olives are high in calories, their calorific contents are far more nutritious than, say, crisps or a biscuit. For instance, if you eat 500 calories of chocolate, you’ll be ingesting over 20g of saturated fat and 52g of sugar. Compare that to 500 calories of olives: you’ll be taking in 35g of monounsaturated fats, and 0g (zero grams) of sugar.
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This comparison goes to show that eating foods based of calories is a bad idea. Foods with similar amounts of calories may differ greatly in their other nutritional components.
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Nutritional details aside, consuming mediterranean-based foods such as olives and fish are well known give positive long-term health results.
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A 2013 article in the New England Journal of Medicine, claimed that those who ate a Mediterranean diet reduced their risk of having a heart attack and stroke. This is largely due to the fact that the Mediterranean diet is based on real food providing real nutrients, and not processed ones including sugar, high fructose corn syrup, soda/soft drinks and all manner of processed dead foods.
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Another recent study conducted by the University of Athens reported that consuming a mediterranean diet can reduce asthma symptoms in young people.
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4. Potatoes and Starchy foods
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Potatoes are the staple of the average European diet. There are countless potato recipes to fill all the cookery books in the world!
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However, there are several BIG downers.
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First ~ bad news to all you mashed potato lovers ~ potatoes don’t count as one of your five vegetables a day. Botanically, they’re a vegetable as they grow in the ground. However, as they are so, so, so starchy, they have been booted out of the list of 5 vegetables to eat daily.
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Second ~ nutritionally, potatoes are a starch. A starch can be defined as a type of complex carbohydrate that’s made up of large number of glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds.
The potato may be classified as a vegetable, but it is drastically high in carb content which will make your blood sugar spike. This means once broken down in the digestive system, they become glucose – SUGAR! Sugar, in the short and long term, spells sugar cravings and degenerative illnesses like diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease BIG TIME.
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The topic of eating potatoes, or other starchy carbohydrates, often arise because eating too many carbohydrates is can lead to all manner of ill health and massive weight gain. The stress of ‘trying’ not to eat too much start will only lead to binges and emotional eating. I’m sure we’ve all heard the saying ‘no carbs, before marbs (Marbella)’ once before…
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The term carbohydrates covers a variety of foods like sugar and cakes as well as potatoes and whole meal bread. Eating unrefined carbohydrates like potatoes may be a quick source of energy. However, because of the insulin spike, you’ll get hungry quickly after a starchy potato meal, while all that broken-down glucose is stored around your midriff.
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So if you’re trying to lose weight, you need to cut down on them, or give them up altogether. The latter is a better option. All you need to do is to revamp your diet and bad food habits.
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Other carbohydrate-rich foods like biscuits and cakes are calorific, but contain very few, or no, vitamins and minerals. Try eating a low-carb diet here.
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Common Misconceptions of Healthy Foods
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In a 2016 NY Times survey, Americans were asked about their perception of which foods were healthy. The results were marked on a scale of 0-100%, with 0% being unhealthy and 100% being healthy. Once the answers were collected, their responses were compared to the actual nutritional benefits of each food item.
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The respondents got the majority of the answers correct. However, many identified certain healthy food items as unhealthy, and vice-versa. Notably, the average American thought granola and frozen yogurts were far healthier than they actually are.
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It’s clear to see the logic in why they all placed these items as healthy. However, they all are relatively unhealthy items due to the copious amount of added sugar. Granola contains a whopping 29g of sugar per 100g, while Frozen Yogurt has 24g of sugar per 100g.
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In contrast, Americans thought foods like sushi, quinoa and hummus were significantly more unhealthy than they actually are.
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Ashley Ellis, a qualified nutritionist working at Assured Pharmacy explains why these specific items provide some nutritional benefit for you in the grand scheme of things.
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“Sushi are one of those foods that can either be beneficial or detrimental to your health, dependent on what ingredients are used.” If your sushi contains any fish, the Omega 3 within the fresh fish has proven health benefits for the heart and brain.
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However, it’s important to cut down on the many sauces which are loaded with commercial processed salt with your sushi.
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Hummus – effectively blended chickpeas, mixed with tahini (sesame paste), olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and seasoning – is a good source of protein: approximately 8g per 100g. Hummus is quite high in fibre which should help your digestive health.
Contributing Author: Seb Burchell
Seb is the Digital Marketing Manager, based at Assured Pharmacy, UK
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